William Saliba's costly error saw Arsenal slip to a 2-2 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday, leaving Liverpool a point away from Premier League glory.
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Only a Palace victory at the Emirates Stadium would have secured Liverpool their 20th top-flight crown without kicking a ball, but the Reds can wrap up the title if they do not lose to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
Palace never led but were the better side for large parts of the match, responding to Jakub Kiwior's early opener with a fine Eberechi Eze goal before working hard to cancel out Leandro Trossard's strike shortly before half-time.
The second equaliser arrived late and came in bizarre fashion as Saliba gifted the ball to Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta, who executed a sublime lob that clipped the crossbar on its way in.
The draw means Arsenal are 12 points off the pace with only four matches to play, while Palace are still 12th but a point closer to the European places.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
33 | +44 | 79 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
34 | +34 | 67 |
How the match unfolded
An enthralling encounter began with the league's two most effective set-piece sides trading blows, with Kiwior's towering header from beyond the penalty spot after three minutes putting Arsenal ahead followed by Eze's volley from a right-wing corner on 27 minutes for Palace's first equaliser.
Trossard twisted in the box and saw a deflected effort restore Arsenal's scarcely deserved lead three minutes before the break.
A succession of Palace headers then had David Raya sweating in the second half as Justin Devenny notably miscued, while Daniel Munoz nodded across the face of goal.
Arsenal had the ball in the net again against the run of play 70 minutes in, only for a VAR review to confirm it had gone out of play before Jurrien Timber crossed for Gabriel Martinelli after the assistant referee had initially flagged for offside.
Dean Henderson then instinctively kept out Bukayo Saka, before Saliba's mistake was punished ruthlessly by Mateta, who saw Raya off his line in the 83rd minute, yet eight minutes of stoppage time did not bring the decisive goal.
Consistency continues to escape Arsenal
Even if the title race is all but run, Arsenal would have been looking for three points on Wednesday to maintain their momentum ahead of their next match, a huge UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg against Paris Saint-Germain next week.
But this game perhaps showed why their hopes of European glory have lasted rather longer than a domestic challenge.
In beating Real Madrid home and away, Arsenal have proven they can lift themselves for the biggest games, with those performances alone enough to keep PSG on their toes.
However, Arsenal have not strung together more than three wins in a row in the Premier League this season, suffering repeated setbacks in their bid to apply pressure to Liverpool.
These draws have been most damaging. Arsenal have been held 13 times this season, including in three of their past four matches, albeit injury absences for Martin Odegaard and Saka have not helped in their bid to come up with much-needed winners.
Saka started from the bench on Wednesday, and his team-mates created precious little from open play before his introduction.
Arsenal did have a chance to snatch it late on, with Martinelli setting off on a driving run from a long throw-in, but the Brazil international could only find the side netting as three points went begging.
Perfect pre-Wembley pick-me-up for Palace
Palace head into their FA Cup semi-final encounter with Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium with just one win in their last six matches since the quarter-finals, having won four in a row in all competitions prior to that.
But this was a return to form for Oliver Glasner's side, with the Austrian joining Mikel Arteta in making changes ahead of a big semi-final, and they might have seen off Arsenal had their first XI been on the pitch at the same time.
Ex-Arsenal man Eddie Nketiah was wasteful with a couple of sights of goal in the first half, with Mateta making a big impact later on. By that point, fellow star men Adam Wharton and Eze had made way, but Palace kept pushing.
If this was a missed opportunity, it is one Palace will be able to move on from quickly if they can upset high-flying Villa on Saturday.
With Wharton, Eze and Mateta all on song and fresh enough after limited minutes in this match, Villa will have to be more wary than Saliba and co. were on Wednesday.
Club reports
Arsenal report | Palace report
What the managers said
Mikel Arteta: "We are disappointed with the result and performance. We didn't find enough consistency in actions to dominate the game. It's part of football and cost us two points. Today they were very organised and deserved credit. We have to do much better."
Oliver Glasner: "Excellent. Credit to the players. The reaction [to recent results] was amazing today. I'm proud of what the players showed. We scored amazing goals. I watched many Arsenal games and I can't remember a team with as many clear chances as we had."
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Key facts
This was only the third time Arsenal failed to go on to win a Premier League game under Arteta in which they twice took the lead; the others were 2-2 draws against Spurs (September 2023) and Liverpool (October 2024).
Since Glasner's first Premier League game in charge of Crystal Palace, only Alexander Isak (32), Erling Haaland (31) and Mohamed Salah (30) have more Premier League goals than Mateta (27).
This was Arsenal's ninth Premier League draw in a match they were leading in this season, two more than any other side. It's the most by a team in a season since Spurs in 2007/08 (also nine).
Eze netted his 30th Premier League goal for Crystal Palace, becoming the fourth player to reach that tally, after Wilfried Zaha (68), Mateta (38) and Christian Benteke (35).
